1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a pneumatic lumbar traction device which can be placed on the floor or any other horizontal surface, such as a table, and the user thereof can strap himself or herself to an upper surface of the device and then, by pumping a hand pump, can cause a lower pelvic traction belt strapped around the pelvic area of a body to be pulled outwardly from a foot end of the device with a chest belt fixed on the chest of the body holding the user to the upper surface of the device. More specifically, the present invention relates to improved pelvic and chest belts which improve fixing of the belts on the body to minimize slippage of the belts on the body and improve traction on the body with lubricious material on the outer surface of the pelvic traction belt to enhance sliding of the pelvic traction belt on the upper surface of the device.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Heretofore various traction belts and traction devices have been proposed where a user can exert a stretching force on the lumbar area of the back. Examples of previously proposed traction belts and traction devices are disclosed in the following U.S. patents.
U.S. Pat. No.Patentee3,960,146Albrecht4,073,290Farrar, Jr.4,099,523Lowrey4,135,503Romano4,356,816Granberg4,466,427Granberg4,508,109Saunders4,627,423Kampner4,641,637Rosen4,664,101Granberg4,995,378Dyer et al.5,052,378Chitwood5,115,802Dyer5,667,529Butner6,045,525Chitwood7,108,671Saunders et al.
These prior art lumbar traction devices used wide belts which are fixed around a body using hook and loop fastening material sold under the trademark VELCRO®. The thinking at the time of the invention of these lumbar traction devices was to use a simple fastening structure, e.g., VELCRO® between the end portions of the belts or straps. While this worked well, there was still slippage of the belts or straps on the torso of the body which reduced the effectiveness of the stretching of the lumbar area.
As will be described in greater detail hereinafter, the pneumatic lumbar traction device of the present invention differs from the various devices disclosed in the prior art patents and literature described above by providing a pelvic belt and a chest belt which are fastened about and fixed to a body with two pairs of straps and male and female clips or buckles.
For years, the simplicity of hook and loop fastening structure on chest belts and pelvic traction belts in lumbar traction devices has overlooked the slippage of such belts because of their inability to effect sufficient tightness of the belts around a user's body. Through trial and error, applicants have determined that the use of a pair of straps on each belt fixed together with male and female clips (like on airplane seatbelt buckles) on each belt where each strap can be tightened against fixed male and female clips and provides much more tightness of the belts around a user's body resulting in much better lumbar/back/spinal stretching.